The Denouement of DORA

This past weekend, we closed DORA with another packed house and a final beautiful performance. We told a story about love, loss and war in Parisian cafes and art studios (a poignant task this closing weekend). We pulled off a nightly load-in and load-out that required five cars, four women and one fantastic new friend (thanks Ron!). We even had the ambient sounds of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” – which really has special resonance when you’re trying to recreate the bombing and painting of Guernica onstage (or Journica as it should now be known). We were reunited with old friends and made some beautiful new ones. No journey is complete without honoring all the wonderful souls who made it happen and gave us an incredible producing experience.

Lojo Simon, the playwright – thank you for a beautiful script, for your encouragement and guidance during the process, for answering all our questions and for supporting us along the way.

Kellie Yvonne Raines, the director – thank you for taking on this story, for fostering such a wonderfully creative environment, for your consistent encouragement, for your love of the process, for your inventive staging and mostly for your relentless investment in making this show the best it could be.

Mariam Helalian, the stage manager- thank you for putting up with us and our antics, for your impeccable problem-solving abilities and professionalism, for your laughter in even the darkest of times, and especially for your time calls. “Places, bitches.”

DORA cast on opening night. Photo by Yuri Tajiri.

Bridggett, Kim, Analise, Stephanie and Sarah – thank you for stepping outside of your comfort zones, for taking a chance on this process and for going above and beyond in every rehearsal and every performance. We have learned so much in watching you work and have reveled in seeing you all shine onstage. Your investment in this show was humbling to say the least and your talent floors us.

Nas, Victor, Martha, Ciara, Gail and Corey – thank you for following us down this crazy rabbit hole, for your innovation in design, for all of the hours you spent researching and constructing and drafting and pulling and patching and sitting in exhausting — but always humorous — production meetings. We asked so much of you, and you never ceased to deliver phenomenal work.

Yuri, thank you for your wonderful eye and for photos that live and breathe to tell the story of this process. Shelly, thank you for guiding us so elegantly through the tragedy of Guernica. Thank you to Parker for lending your mad carpentry skills and Jonathan for all of your costume support during one of the oddest tech weeks ever. To our sponsors, blogpost artists and everyone who otherwise gave us their time, energy and talent, we are so very grateful to you for all that you did.

But we save our biggest gratitude for last. To our audiences, to everyone who came out to the show and joined us, we thank you. After all, you are the reason we do all this, in the hope that something in a show will touch you or make you think. There is no greater happiness than sharing this work with you. And a special thanks to everyone who reached out after the show and shared their support. You inspire us to no end.